Tag: India

FedEx fails to clinch Safexpress deal

Posted by | Jul 11, 2007 | |

Federal Express’ attempt to enter the domestic logistics business have received a setback with the failure of its attempt to buy out SafeExpress, one of the largest Indian logistics company.

This deal could have been significant for FedEx Express, because its competitors, DHL and TNT, have been successful in entering the domestic logistics segment in India through strategic acqusitions. TNT acquired Speedage, a divison of ARC India, in 2006 for an amount of Rs 200 crore (GBP 2.46 million), while DHL had acquired 81.03 pct of Blue Dart in 2004 for an amount of Rs 730 crore (GBP 8.97 million).

Had the deal gone through, it would have given FedEx a fairly huge chunk of the market in the express cargo, 3PL and warehousing segment.

The opportunity for integrated solutions in the logistics industry is huge and FedEx Express, the world’s largest express distribution company did not want to miss it. A proposed Central Sales Tax (CST) phase out, investments in infrastructure and technology as well as pick up in manufacturing outsourcing have been driving the demand for logistics solutions in India.

Something had to give. So, in a final meeting, held at one of the banker’s place, a couple of weeks back, FedEx walked away from the deal. Ernst & Young were the bankers of Safexpress, while FedEx was represented by JP Morgan. The anxiety in the minds of top officials with respect to Mr Jain’s inability to take a standing decision on the matter has been building up for a while now. The employees were not sure of their fate in the course of change in ownership.

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Rural areas to get financial services

Posted by | Jul 7, 2007 | |

The Department of Posts will extend financial services to people living in remote and interior villages of Madurai region. Banking services, including micro-credit and housing loans will be offered to rural people, the Director of Postal Services, Southern Region, Sushil Kumar, has said.

He was speaking at a function to mark the silver jubilee celebrations of the southern region at district post office here on Friday. Already, distribution of micro-credit offered by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to self-help groups had been extended as a pilot model at Karaikudi. This model would be replicated in Sivaganga shortly.

As many as 200 SHGs had been identified to provide micro-credit link in Sivaganga. The distribution would commence soon, Mr. Kumar said. Similarly, the Department of Posts and the State Bank of India would extend select services such as housing loans to villages where bank services is still a distant dream, Mr. Kumar said.

The post offices had already been selling and distributing mutual funds and insurance products. ‘Our presence in the rural and semi-urban areas is our strength,’ he added.

Automation of post offices in the district was almost complete. It was done without reducing the staff strength. Another specialty was that the grievances of people would be displayed on the website and officials concerned would reply immediately.

Earlier, Mr. Kumar distributed prizes to winners of various competitions held as part of the celebrations and insurance policies to rural clients. Agents who had achieved the target were also honoured.

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Post offices to sell new UTI mutual fund

Posted by | Jul 6, 2007 | |

Coimbatore: The Postmaster General, Western Region, K.V. Sundar Rajan, launched the sale of UTI India Lifestyle Fund through post offices here on Wednesday.

The fund opened on July 2 and closes on July 25. The minimum investment is Rs. 5,000 and in multiples of Re. 1. The allotment date is August 16, this year and the maturity date is August 17, 2010.

The fund will be a three-year, close-ended equity scheme with automatic conversion into an open ended scheme on maturity. Investors have the growth option and dividend option.

The fund will be invested in equity and equity-related securities of companies, including those in the derivatives segment.

‘The fund will seek to benefit by investing in those companies and sectors which will profit from the domestic consumption led boom,’ according to a brochure on the fund.

Individuals, institutions, non-resident Indians and Foreign Institutional Investors are the eligible investors.

Mr. Sundar Rajan urged the postal staff to educate investors on the security available in investing in mutual funds.

‘Today, mutual fund is a vibrant, growing market. A customer should be informed that mutual funds are a relatively safe investment,’ he said.

Unlike earlier days, when not many options were available to investors, now they had several products to invest their money.

The Postal Department had a huge network and was able to mobilise a lot of investments through this network. This was why several companies preferred to launch the sale of their products through post offices, Mr. Sundar Rajan added.

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New PIN code for bulk mail in Chennai

Posted by | Jul 1, 2007 | |

Chennai is one of the cities identified for the launch of a new system of six-digit PIN (postal index number) code, aimed at serving bulk recipients of mail.

As the new PIN codes will be customer specific, it would suffice if senders of mail or articles wrote the respective PIN code. There will be no need for writing the detailed postal address.

Under the proposed system, the first three digits will indicate the existing sorting district.

For instance, in the case of Chennai, the first three digits will remain as 600. But, the last three digits, to be assigned by the State-level or regional-level postal authorities, will be unique to each customer.

Apart from individual bulk addressees, the PIN codes are going to be earmarked for specific buildings such as Rajaji Bhavan, where a large number of offices are located. The customer PIN codes will be provided to the bulk addressees free of cost.

Sources say there is a provision for premium numbers with regard to the last three digits. But, they will be allotted by the Postal Directorate.

The rationale behind the new system is to facilitate automation and mechanization of mail processes, leading to speedy delivery. The proposed system is going to be launched in major cities and towns of the country as it has been found that almost all business mail get generated in the urban centers. Also, a majority of mail meant for delivery is also within 78 cities and towns.

At present, many bulk recipients of mail are subscribers of the post box system, under which they are required to collect their articles from the post offices. But, under the proposed system, postmen will deliver the mail at the places of the addressee.

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DHL completes strategic partnership transaction with Polar Air Cargo

Posted by | Jun 29, 2007 | |

DHL announced that it has successfully completed the transaction to form a strategic partnership with Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc., a wholly owned unit of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (AAWW), a leading provider of global air cargo services. As part of this transaction, DHL Express will invest USD 150 million for a 49 pct stake and 25 pct of voting rights in Polar Air Cargo Worldwide.

The transaction includes a commercial arrangement that gives DHL Express guaranteed access to Polar Air Cargo’s aircraft capacity in key global markets over a period of 20 years, with a potential revenue stream to the AAWW companies of US$3.5 billion. In addition, DHL Express will have access to additional available aircraft capacity from Atlas Air, Inc., another subsidiary of AAWW, as agreed between the parties. The long-term access and greater capacity will significantly improve service to DHL Express’ customers who ship goods between Asia Pacific and the US – reducing transit times and increasing reliability of delivery on the trans-Pacific air routes. The investment in Polar signals another major commitment to the US market and represents a major milestone in DHL’s strategy to provide a compelling alternative in the US domestic express delivery market.

Asia Pacific is going through a period of intense growth, fuelled by several growth drivers including the burgeoning economies of China and India. The trade flow for the trans-Pacific routes has been growing steadily in recent years. According to Boeing’s World Air Cargo Forecast 2006/2007, Asia-US trade is forecasted to expand at an annual average of 7.1 percent, compared to 6.9 percent for Asia-Europe. The overall share of world air trade connected to Asia’s markets, including the domestic markets of China and Japan and the international markets, is expected to increase from 50.8 percent in 2005 to 63.3 percent in 2025.

Polar Air Cargo will continue to operate as an independent company and there will be no integration with DHL or any of its business units.

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